Let’s Play Zonk!

Zonk is a social dice game that has been passed down from one generation of cannabis smokers to the next throughout the years. There have been many rules added to the game over the years, but once you’ve played a game or two they’ll make perfect sense. After all, not breaking the rules is part of the fun!

POINTS & SCORING

A Straight = 1500 pts. (1,2,3,4,5 or 2,3,4,5,6 and it must be rolled together at the same time, in one roll.)

Natural 5 of a kind= 2000 pts. (Rolled at the same time, in one roll. This is the only time that scoring dice are left on the board.)

Dare Rule = if 4 of a kindare rolled at the same time, in one roll, the other players have the opportunity to “dare” the roller. He or she can choose to stay with their points or take the dare and roll the one die that is not the same. Should that die be the same, therefore showing 5 of a kind, it’s equal to 1000 points and the player’s turn continues.Example of Dare Rule:Player 1 rolls 4 4 4 4 2; Player 2 sees this and says, “Dare you”; Player 1 has the option stay with 400 points, pick up a 4 and the 2 or take the dare and pick up just the 2 and roll it in hopes of a 4, anything but a 4 results in the end of player 1’s turn and “Dare Zonk” would be recorded on the score sheet; if player 1 rolls a 4, they add 100 points to their turn, pick up all the dice, and continue rolling. This will become clearer after reading how to roll.

GETTING STARTED & ROLLING

Before the game starts it should be determined who will be the scorekeeper and who will be in charge of packing the bowl (or preferred smoking instrument). When playing games with more than four players, teams may be used to speed up game play.

Play is with five dice. One of which is red, this is the Blood Die; the lowest die goes last. Players should physically arrange themselves in order from highest roll to lowest to organize game play properly.

Once complete, in order of turn, each player chooses a pseudonym to go by for game play and it is then recorded on the game sheet in the appropriate column. (see sample score sheet). The time is then recorded on the score sheet as well.

Now the game is ready to begin…

The first player rolls all five dice, careful to keep them all within the space of the game board, failing to do so results in a loss of turn.

A minimum of one scoring die must be left after each roll for the player to continue his or her turn. During a turn, a Player can roll as many times as they like, as long as they continue to roll scoring die/dice each time.

A player may “stay”after a scoring roll with all of the points accumulated within that turn.

At any point of a player’s turn, if all 5 dice are shown as scoring, they must be picked up and rolled.

A player continues their turn as long as they continue to roll and accumulate more points or decide to “stay” with the points they have. Each player is responsible for adding the points in his or her turn correctly (more on this later).

“Stay”a player simply states “Stay with [# of points]”. The scorekeeper adds the player’s points to any previous score (from previous turns), and is the next persons turn, (unless a “hit” is merited, more on that later)

As mentioned during a roll, should the die or dice being rolled show all non-scoring, the player’s turn is over and the next player picks up the dice. Any non-scoring turn is recorded on the score sheet as “Zonk”, unless all five dice are non-scoring, this is called “Bloods”. Once caveat is that if the blood dis is the only non-scoring die, it must be picked up and rolled; if the result is non-scoring, then the player’s turn is over and “Bloody Zonk” is recorded on the score sheet.

Example Turn:

Player rolls the fie dice with the result: 1,5,2,4,4, the player has the option to “stay with 150” points, or may choose to leave the one or both of the scoring dice and roll the rest of the dice.

Let’s say the player chooses to leave just the 1 on the game board and roll the 5 4 2 and 4. After the player’s second roll, the dice on the game board show 3 3 3 2. At this point, the player can choose to stay with 400 points (1= 100 from the first roll + 3 x 100 = 300 from the second roll, totaled together = 400 points) or the player can roll the non-scoring 2.

Should the resulting roll of the one die be a 5 or 1, the player would add all the points together, pick up and roll all 5 dice, continuing with their turn (with all the same rules as before) and building points on their score for that round until zonking out or staying.

If all 5 dice are shown as scoring, theymust be picked up and rolled. The only exception is rolling a Natural 5 of a kind.

GAME PLAY & RULES

To enter the game, a player must accumulate 350 points or more in a single turn. After the player is “in the game”, they may stay with any amount of points.

The main point of Zonk is to smoke cannabis; this is how everyone wins.

How Hits are rewarded:

Every time a player lands on or passes 1000 point threshold (i.e. 1000, 2000, 3000…)

Whenever a player lands exactly upon predetermined bonuses.

*additional bonuses may be added, if players see fit; such as for birthdays, special dates, favorite numbers, or just to have more

If all players attain a hit within the same round, every one takes a bonus hit. This is called a “social”.

If any player records a hit on three consecutive turns, this is called a‘turkey”and a bonus hit is rewarded.

Standard Bonuses Include:

2100 = Space Odyssey Bonus

3950 = Garden Bonus

5150 = Loco Bonus

6900 = Sex Odyssey Bonus

7700 = Lucky Sevens Bonus

9950 = Sunset Bonus

Additional bonuses may be added, if players see fit; such as for birthdays, special dates, favorite numbers, or just to have more.

If ALL players attain a hit within the same round, everyone takes a bonus hit. This is called a “Social”.

If any player records a hit on three consecutive turns, this is called a “turkey”and a bonus hit is rewarded.

Taking a Hit:

When a player is rewarded with a hit, it is that player’s prerogative to allow the next person to start his or her turn. The proceeding player is not allowed to touch the dice until the person rewarded with the hit does one of the following:

Player says, “You can go.”

Player says, “Done”

Player is asked permission and responds with “Yes”

Player coughs.

If the next person touches the dice before any of these things happen, that player loses his or her turn. The following player must still wait for any of these four things to happen, before he or she can go, or that player is subject to the same loss of turn, and so on.

The game ends when a player reaches 10,000 points. Game play continues through the end of the round, giving each player a chance to finish out and potentially record a hit. 10,000 is where the game ends, even if the player may have 9800 points and that player rolls 1000 points on their turn, the score is still written as 10,000. This is always true. The first player to 10,000 receives two hits. Also, that player is the winner, even if someone after he or she reaches 10,000 (that person would still receive a hit, but it would just be one hit).

“11,000 Rule”:

The 11,000 Rule can be called once the player has passed the 5000 point threshold. The 11,000 Rule extends the game beyond the normal 10,000 point finish. To call the rule, it must be the player’s turn and the dice must be in the player’s hand. Also, the rule must be called before anyone reaches 10,000. The time that the rule is called is recorded on the scoring sheet along with who called it.

Once the 100,000 Rule is called, any player at the 10,000 point threshold must roll 1000 or more points in a single turn. This time, players can record beyond the 100,000 point threshold. This allows others the chance to “steal the sheet.” And, of course, crossing this threshold merits a hit.

11,000 Rule Example: The 11,000 Rule has been called earlier in the game. Player 1 is at 10,000 and he or she scores 1,150 points on their turn; Player 1’s score is recorded as 11,150. Player 2 is also at 10,000 and he or she scores 1,400 points in their turn, the score is recorded as 11,400, and player 2 is the winner, having effectively “stolen the sheet” from player 1. Herein lies the benefit of going last.

Losing Turn with No Points:

Rolling one or more of the dice off the game board.

One or more of the dice is hanging over the edge of the board (i.e. it is not completely within the boundaries of the game board).

The players say the incorrect score (i.e. they added their points wrong). Therefore, should a player be challenged on their point total, they must be able to say what the dice showed to add up to their point total.

Additional/Optional

If a player’s roll is “sloppy”(This includes, dice being stacked upon one another on the game board; a die being stuck to a player’s hand; or any non-fluid rolling motion – players can determine how strict they wish to play).

When picking the dice up from the board for your turn, the dice must be all picked up together, not one at a time. Fingers, hands, and other dice cannot touch any scoring dice being left on the board. (Again, players can agree upon how strict they wish to be).

Game of Zonk includes everything need to play Zonk, the game board, a glass pipe blown by artisans in Pacific Northwest, 5 dice and score sheets. Sorry, you’ll need to supply your own marijuana.